Free Consolation Bracket Maker
Nobody drives an hour to play one match and go home. A consolation draw gives the first-round losers a second game, without doubling your schedule.
Build your consolation bracket
The main draw is seeded from your list. The consolation draw prints blank on a second sheet, half the size, for whoever loses in round one.
Round one is filled in from your list. Later rounds always print blank.
16 of 64 · bracket of 16
Paste a list straight from a spreadsheet. One name per line.
Slots on the sheet, not players. Pick the smallest one that holds everybody and the spare lines print empty.
Everything you type stays in your browser and is drawn on your own device. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no watermark on the print or the PNG.
Want the bracket to run itself?
A printed sheet is finished the moment it leaves the printer. Move this draw into the Bracket widget instead and winners advance on their own, visitors vote and predict, and a live leaderboard ranks everyone’s picks. Your players come across, so you carry on where you left off.
Your players and draw order come across, but the widget runs single and double elimination only, so this opens there as single elimination. The printed sheet on this page is unaffected.
Every bracket sheet
By format
By size
By event
Widgets that pair with a tournament
A printed sheet settles the draw. These free CommonNinja widgets keep the tournament alive on your own site once the first results are in.
Bracket Maker
Bracket generator for creating interactive tournaments that organize matchups, track progress, and deliver a clear and engaging competition experience.
Leaderboard
Add a customizable leaderboard to your site to display rankings, track scores, and encourage friendly competition.
Poll
Create interactive polls with a poll widget that gathers real time feedback, boosts engagement, and helps you understand visitor opinions quickly and clearly.
Countdown
Add a countdown timer to your site to highlight upcoming events or launches and encourage timely user action.
Explore More Free Tools
Other free tools to build and share something in a browser tab.
Free Double Elimination Bracket Maker
Print a double elimination bracket with a blank losers draw. Two lives each, 4 to 64 players.
Use Tool →Free Single Elimination Bracket Maker
Print a single elimination bracket. Lose once and you are out: the shortest format, 4 to 64 players.
Use Tool →Free 16 Team Bracket Maker
Print a 16-team tournament bracket: 4 rounds, 15 matches, first round seeded from your list.
Use Tool →How It Works
Three steps, about a minute
1. Type or paste your players
One name per line, or paste a column straight out of a spreadsheet. Switch to a blank sheet if you would rather write them in by hand.
2. Check the draw
Choose whether round one follows your list, a random shuffle, or standard seeding that keeps the strongest apart. Byes are worked out for you.
3. Print it
The sheet is fitted to one A4 page exactly, so it never spills onto a second one. Your print dialog will save it as a PDF if you prefer.
The Format
What a consolation bracket actually is
It is the middle ground between single and double elimination, and it is routinely confused with both.
- Only round-one losersThat is the whole difference from double elimination, where anybody who loses at any stage drops down. Here, lose in round two and you really are finished.
- Half the sizeA 16-player draw produces 8 first-round losers, so the consolation bracket is an 8-slot knockout.
- Everybody gets two gamesWhich is the point. Nobody travels, pays an entry fee and plays once.
- Only about half again the matchesA 16-player draw goes from 15 matches to around 22, not the 30 that double elimination would cost.
Why It Exists
The format schools and youth leagues actually use
Consolation vs double
Consolation gives a second game to first-round losers only. Double elimination gives a second life to everybody. The first costs about 50% more matches, the second about 100%.
Consolation vs third place
A third place play-off is one extra match between the losing semi-finalists. A consolation bracket is a whole second draw for everyone knocked out in round one. You can print both.
Consolation exists for a practical reason rather than a sporting one. If families have driven across a county for a Saturday tournament, a format where half the children play one match and then sit in a hall for four hours is not acceptable, however fair it is. A consolation draw fixes exactly that complaint for about half the extra cost of double elimination.
It is also the honest answer when somebody asks for double elimination but has only budgeted a single day. Offer consolation instead: the guarantee people actually care about is a second game, not a second life.
Other Sizes
Need a different bracket?
Same sheet, same print settings, a different number of slots.
Free Double Elimination Bracket Maker
Print a double elimination bracket with a blank losers draw. Two lives each, 4 to 64 players.
Free Single Elimination Bracket Maker
Print a single elimination bracket. Lose once and you are out: the shortest format, 4 to 64 players.
Free 16 Team Bracket Maker
Print a 16-team tournament bracket: 4 rounds, 15 matches, first round seeded from your list.
Or start from the general printable bracket maker, which opens with every size and format available and works out the right one from however many players you paste in.
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